


A Midwinter Night's Dream

by la_muerta



Series: Shadowhunter Bingo entries [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, I suppose this is pagan Christmas fic lol, M/M, Midwinter, Mistletoe, Prince Alec Lightwood, Ritual Sex, Shadowhunter Bingo, Winter Solstice, Witch King Magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:08:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21872725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_muerta/pseuds/la_muerta
Summary: While chasing a white hind through Blackthorn Woods, Prince Alec, soon to be king of the realm, meets a sorcerer named Magnus under a bough of mistletoe growing on an oak tree.For the Shadowhunter Bingo Square:Mistletoe
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Shadowhunter Bingo entries [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1570297
Comments: 53
Kudos: 411
Collections: Favorite Malec Stories, SHBingo





	A Midwinter Night's Dream

Alec had not meant to go so deep into Blackthorn Woods. He had been out hunting with his brother and some of the younger nobles when he had spotted the white hind standing in a shaft of weak winter sunlight, and given chase. He hadn't intended to hurt it, of course - to kill or even wound an ethereal creature like that would have been unforgivable. He had only wanted to take a better look at it, driven by a deeper instinct, but when he'd noticed that he was too far ahead of the rest of the hunting party and tried to rein his horse in, the beast had ignored his commands and kept galloping at an alarming speed through the winding paths between the trees. All Alec had been able to do was hang on and try not to fall from his horse, and by the time it slowed to a canter, he found himself alone in the wintry woods. The white hind was, of course, nowhere to be seen.

Now he wondered if perhaps that instinct to follow the hind had been a trick played on him by the treacherous "talent" that he had been born with - the cursed ability to wield magic, twice cursed because he was not very good at controlling it and had no one to teach him how, and because magic was forbidden in the kingdom of Idris, the realm that he would soon become king of come summer. 

Once he was sure that his horse wasn't going to bolt again, Alec dismounted. It was panting from the exertion, its breath coming out in great white clouds, and Alec sighed in resignation as he patted it on its flank. Swift was his favourite horse, a little high-spirited, but he'd had a hand in its training and it was usually well-behaved when he was at the reins. 

"Did it enchant you, too?" he murmured, looking around. 

He was lost, but the hunting party would be able to follow his tracks, and he had no doubt that they would find him soon. Alec turned around, intending to follow his own tracks back to his men, and stilled. The tracks Swift had made in the ankle-deep snow were gone. In fact, the path between the trees that his horse had come through was gone too, as if the trees had closed ranks behind him when he wasn't looking, and were now growing so close to each other that their branches tangled overhead. 

He spun around. The path that led even deeper into the woods was still there, clear and inviting, but it couldn't be clearer that this was a trap. Blackthorn Woods was still within the domain of Idris, but it was right at the edge of the kingdom; beyond the dark woods lay uncharted territory called the Labyrinth, a place inhabited by monsters, fae, demons, and sorcerers - a place of dangerous magic, from which few travellers returned. 

Alec scowled at tugged on his horse's reins, leading it back towards the path that had vanished, certain that it was only an illusion, but the horse refused to budge. 

"Come on, Swift. It's only a trick," Alec said firmly, but the horse whinnied and tossed its head, jerking away from him. Alec retrieved a piece of dried fruit from his pocket, holding it out to the horse. "Come here, boy. Let's go home." His normally greedy horse didn't even look at the treat, insistently pulling him towards the clear path. 

Alec couldn't blame it; he could feel it too, calling out to him. This was why he avoided the woods as far as possible, especially since the pull of the Labyrinth grew stronger every passing year. Alec frowned and let go of the horse's reins. The bow and quiver of arrows hanging across his back were of no use, as was the short sword hanging on his belt, but he had one other weapon at his disposal. He looked around to make sure that he was alone, then stretched one arm out with his palm held facing outwards. 

"Don't worry. I'll get us out of here," Alec murmured, and _pushed_. 

His magic burst out in a silent explosion of golden light, slamming into the trees that were blocking his way. His horse reared in fright as the magic refracted and seemed to bounce off the black bark of the trees, sweeping out in a wave. But while the trees remained untouched, the blast of magic had spooked the horse so badly that it took off and disappeared into the dark woods before Alec could even try to stop it. 

Alec cursed under his breath and ran after his horse, and even though there was no wind, the trees began to whisper. 

The hunting party had left the castle in the late morning; through the gaps in the trees overhead, Alec thought it looked like the sun had already set, although of course the sun would usually be gone by the afternoon so late in the year. He had been walking in the snowy woods for hours, whistling in vain for his horse while he followed its trail, and he was hungry, thirsty, and exhausted - though thankfully he could use his magic to keep himself warm. 

The trees had grown to incredible heights here, some of them with trunks wider than Alec, a mix of lush evergreens and winter-bald skeletons. But Alec had neither seen nor heard any other living creature - nothing that flew or crawled on the ground or anything in between. Thankfully, the tracks of his horse were still clear in the snow, and judging from the hoof prints, the beast had finally slowed down. 

Eventually, he heard a voice and the snorting and huffing of a horse. He quickened his pace but approached cautiously, and finally spotted his runaway horse, which was eating something from the palm of a stranger's hand. 

"That horse belongs to me," Alec said sharply. 

The beautiful stranger smiled at him. "I am aware of that, Prince Alexander."

He was wearing a long flowing robe in midnight blue, with fine lines of gold thread and tiny gems embroidered into the cloth in an intricate pattern. He must have been a man of some wealth and status, judging from the heavy rings on his fingers and the circlet of gold around his head, but Alec had never seen him amongst the nobles of his court. Despite the cold, his robes were open to his chest and his feet were bare, and Alec saw a carved wooden insignia of a spiral hanging from a string of leather around his neck. 

"Who are you?" Alec demanded.

"My name is Magnus, and I serve the people of the Labyrinth as their king," he said, and with a flash of blue magic, another piece of fresh fruit appeared in his hand for the horse. 

Alec immediately drew his sword. "You're the Witch King of the Labyrinth," he said accusingly. 

"Oh, surely there's no need for that," the Witch King said with a knowing smile. "After all, you are one of us."

"You've been watching me? Why did you lure me into the woods?" Alec snarled, trying not to let his fear and panic show, but his blade crackled with golden sparks.

"The Labyrinth draws people like us, for it is a safe place for our magic to grow. I had nothing to do with that. And I did not need to watch you to know that you've been using magic in the woods - although I must say, it would not have been a hardship to have to watch you," the Witch King - _Magnus_ \- said, his smile growing a little mischievous.

Alec scowled and kept his blade trained on the sorcerer. "What do you want with me?"

"Nothing. I simply found the horse and thought it seemed hungry," Magnus replied easily. "As for the fact that the future king of Idris has magic, it would be in the interests of my people to see you become king - for many of those who fled into the Labyrinth still have family in Idris, and I think they would like very much to be allowed to visit. Rest assured that your secret is safe with me."

"I don't believe you. You are the king of this cursed land, so you must be the one stopping me from leaving," Alec said.

Magnus shook his head. "Magic has its own will, Prince Alexander, but I think you can't leave because some part of you wants to stay."

Alec took a few steps forward with his blade raised threateningly, but Magnus stood his ground. "I don't want to hurt you," he warned Alec, and as he raised his hands, blue fire flared at his fingertips. 

Alec adjusted his stance, prepared to lunge, and suddenly found that his sword hand had grown extraordinarily heavy. He gritted his teeth, fighting the pull of the magic, but still the weapon was twisted out of his hand. To his surprise, Magnus let out an annoyed huff as the magic in his hands faded as well. Magnus glanced up, and his expression cleared. 

"Ah. Mistletoe."

Alec looked up as well. He hadn't noticed the tangled, misshapen ball of green leaves and waxy white berries growing on the oak branch high above them when he'd approached Magnus, but then again he hadn't really been paying attention to anything else. Mistletoe was a sacred symbol of love and peace, commonly hung on doorways in the winter, and now he remembered the old saying that even the bitterest enemies were obliged to stop fighting and kiss under the mistletoe. He tried to take a step back so that he would no longer be under the offending plant, but found that he couldn't - as if there was an invisible barrier all around him, trapping him with Magnus. 

"It seems that the Labyrinth didn't like that we were fighting," Magnus said wryly, and took a step towards Alec. "Let's be done with it."

Alec stared at Magnus. Was he expecting Alec to kiss him? 

"Night approaches, Prince Alexander," Magnus reminded him a little impatiently. 

Alec scowled but took a few steps forward, and Magnus obligingly met him in the middle. There was a clear challenge in Magnus' eyes, as if he expected Alec to stall and try to get out of it, and it made Alec all the more determined to prove him wrong. He had never kissed anyone before and hardly knew what he was doing, but Alec crushed their lips together without hesitation, and Magnus let out a small sound of surprise. 

He hadn't expected Magnus' lips to be so soft and warm, or for his body to react so strongly to a simple kiss. It took every bit of Alec's willpower to break the kiss, and from the shocked expression on Magnus' face, he knew that Magnus hadn't expected the strange connection between them either. 

Just then, Alec heard familiar voices calling out his name. He glanced behind him and saw the silhouettes of horses and men bearing torches, his people calling out for their missing prince, and turned back to tell Magnus to flee - but he was all alone under the barren branches of the oak tree. 

\--

The night after, and the night after that, Alec sneaked out of the castle in the dead of night to go into the woods. He had convinced himself that he was simply going to ask Magnus if he could teach him how to control his magic, and that as king-in-waiting it was his duty to build alliances, especially since the Witch King of the Labyrinth did not seem to be fearsome and cruel like the stories about him would have one believe. Alec wasn't confident of remembering the way back to the oak tree, but his horse did, and when Alec reached the tree he always found Magnus already waiting there for him. 

For three weeks, he met Magnus whenever he could for lessons in magic but also to learn more about the Labyrinth, the habits of its people and the creatures that lived there. Alec had a good relationship with his mother and siblings, but even without the secret of his magic it was impossible for him to have true friendships with the nobles of his age. Magnus, on the other hand, was his equal in status and age, and they quickly became fast friends, even if Alec wished they could be something more.

Magnus was usually happy to let Alec decide the time of their meeting, but five days before the winter solstice, he carefully extended an invitation to Alec, for him to join the people of the Labyrinth in their midwinter celebration. After hours of deliberation and arguing with himself, Alec told himself that he would be fine - he wasn't likely to be caught since the whole castle was heavily asleep from the good food and wine that would be served at the feast, and besides, this was the first time Magnus had asked anything of him. He told only his siblings, so that they could help cover for him if the need arose, and slipped into the woods after the castle's midwinter festivities were well over.

Magnus was dressed in robes of burnished gold tonight, and his face lit up when Alec came into view. "I wasn't sure if you'd come," he said. 

"I couldn't stay away," Alec confessed.

Magnus smiled brightly and beckoned to him. "Come, midnight draws near and the Burning is about to begin."

He left a sackful of apples for Alec's horse, and led Alec through the trees to a clearing in the woods that radiated power. The trees at the edges of this clearing bore the same spiral symbol that Magnus wore around his neck, and the rocks and gravel in the soil also formed a clear image of the spiral on the ground. This had to be one of the "thin places" Magnus had told him about, a natural font of the magic that made the Labyrinth what it was, which appeared only at specific times of the year. There were many people already gathered there, singing and dancing around a roaring bonfire that had been built in the centre point of the spiral, and simple food and wine was being shared around. Magnus waved his hand, frowning in concentration, and the trees around them began to twist and grow new branches that were closer to the ground. The snow on the ground melted, a thick layer of soft moss growing in its stead, and long vines of winter jasmine, ivy, and wisteria grew over the little bower to hide them from view. Alec placed his palm on one of the tree trunks serving as a pillar, and put the finishing touch on the bower, filling the space with warmth and golden light. 

"You can stay here, if you do not want to reveal yourself yet," Magnus suggested, and Alec nodded gratefully. 

Magnus, of course, was expected to lead the ritual burning of the yule log for blessings and bountiful magic for the year to come, which Alec supposed was why Magnus had wanted him there. As Alec watched, they presented Magnus with a log of oak decorated with holly and mistletoe, and on his command it was thrown into the fire. There was a powerful surge of magic that Alec felt the warmth of it sink into his bones, both frightening and exhilarating in how _right_ it felt, and the crowd cheered as the flames of the bonfire rose. The air was now thrumming with magic so strong that Alec could get drunk on it. Magnus entertained the crowd by making the flames dance and change colour, and sent fiery images of dragons and other fantastic creatures into the night sky, but Alec only had eyes for Magnus - the grace of his movements as he controlled the flames, his laughter and the joy he took in making his people smile, and the way the light from the flames glinted off his clothes until it looked like he was a part of the fire given human form.

When the show was over, some people began to slip away from the bonfire but some small bowers not unlike the one Magnus and Alec had built together began to grow out of the frozen ground. Alec couldn't help but notice that the bowers were all being built by couples, and his face heated, wondering if Magnus had meant something by offering such a shelter to him. 

When Magnus returned to their bower, he raised an eyebrow at Alec's serious expression. "Alexander, are you alright?" 

"Did you bewitch me that night, under the mistletoe?" Alec asked softly.

Magnus smiled at him, settling by his side, and placed a hand on his cheek. "Only in the way that you bewitched me, too." 

Alec huffed out a laugh and pulled Magnus closer to kiss him soundly, and for a while having Magnus' lips on his was all that mattered. This midwinter night was the longest night of the year, and Alec couldn't think of any other person he'd rather spend it with, or any other place he'd rather be than this small space they'd built together to shelter them from the bitter cold outside.

"Why are all the couples making bowers like this?" Alec finally asked. 

"Because tonight is both the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year, a time of power, and all acts that celebrate life - feasting, dancing, and taking pleasure in each other - are ways of drawing power to oneself," Magnus murmured. "Only if you are willing, of course."

"Of course I am willing," Alec replied, eyes darkening with want as he pulled Magnus in to kiss him again. 

Magnus was bare under his robes but Alec's many layers of winter clothing proved a little harder to get rid of. Magnus didn't seem to mind, occupied with kissing each new stretch of skin he managed to uncover as he peeled off the layers. When they were both finally free of their clothes, they lay down on the soft moss with their legs tangled and bodies pressed together from chest to groin. Magnus had pushed his thigh between Alec's legs and his cock was leaving wet smears on Alec's belly while Alec's cock was likewise dragging across Magnus' smooth skin as they rocked together.

There was heat and magic building between them, an intoxicating combination. Alec couldn't stop touching Magnus, couldn't stop kissing him; he rolled Magnus under him and ran his hands down Magnus' sides in slow, sensuous sweeps, revelling in the way hard muscle jumped underneath his palm, and found places to kiss that made Magnus moan and arch against him - a spot behind his ears, the hollow of his throat just under his Adam's apple, the pert nubs of his nipples, which Alec would tease lightly with his teeth and flick his tongue at just for the sounds Magnus made when he did that. Magnus' hands were not idle either, caressing Alec's arms and back, then roving downwards, lower and lower, until Alec felt fingers circling the rim of his entrance.

Alec's knees had been braced on either side of Magnus' thighs, and now Magnus nudged his thighs wider apart with his own legs as he sank a finger slick with magic into Alec's body. Alec gasped and widened his stance, pressed chest to chest with Magnus, his face hidden in the crook of Magnus' neck, and his hard cock hanging low enough to drag on Magnus' belly as Magnus' fingers worked him open with gentle strokes.

Magnus took his time, watching intently as Alec squirmed and moaned above him, and by the time Magnus removed his fingers they were both trembling. The call of the magic around them and between them was impossible to ignore, and Alec didn't _want_ to fight it. When Magnus took his own cock in hand and guided it to Alec's entrance, Alec bore down without hesitation, desperate to feel Magnus inside him, and Magnus gasped in pleasure and surprise. 

There was pain, though not to the point of being unbearable - just a sudden dull sting from taking too much too fast. Alec went a little slower then, trying his best not to tense up, and Magnus murmured words of praise and encouragement as Alec rocked himself onto Magnus' cock. It felt strange and a little uncomfortable to have something pushing into him, but arousal was mostly in the mind; the thought that it was Magnus that he was sharing this most intimate of acts with, and the look of rapture on Magnus' face as he watched Alec taking his cock was enough to keep him going. He took until there was no more left to take, his body so incredibly _full_ from being stretched open around Magnus' cock, and his own cock so hard that he had to stroke himself a few times to take the pressure off. For a moment he just sat astride Magnus with his eyes closed, trying to adjust to the feeling. 

"Oh, Alexander," Magnus whispered reverently. "Come here."

Magnus cupped a hand behind his head and kissed him, tongue coaxing his lips apart and plundering his mouth so that when Magnus flipped them around and pinned Alec under him, Alec hardly had the breath to voice his surprise. 

"I'll take care of you," Magnus promised. He guided Alec's knees up to his chest, keeping them spread and bent with a firm grip on the back of his thighs. Then he rolled his hips, somehow burying himself deeper inside Alec, and the pressure of being too full now bloomed into a bittersweet ache. 

" _Magnus_ ," Alec gasped as Magnus drew out and thrust swiftly back into him, again and again, each time dragging across a spot inside him that lit up every nerve in his body with pleasure. 

Magnus bent down to kiss him again and Alec kissed him back frantically, tongue thrusting into Magnus' mouth and curling his lower body up to meet the sharp snaps of Magnus' hips. His fingers were digging into Magnus' arms in a desperate grip and his cock was trapped between their bodies, flushed red and leaking, and he could feel the peak of both magic and pleasure coiling tight low in his belly. 

"Magnus, I'm going to-" 

His climax crashed over him, and Alec cried out and clenched down on Magnus' cock as his release landed on both their chests and abdomens in warm spurts. Magnus moaned out his name and kept rocking into his tightening body, and it was almost too much now, but Alec _needed_ to feel Magnus finishing inside him. 

"Keep going. Take what you need," Alec murmured. 

Magnus groaned and increased his pace, gripping Alec's thighs for leverage. Alec bit down on his lips as Magnus thrust harder into him, his rhythm faltering and eyes squeezed shut as he chased his own climax, but Alec couldn't stop himself from crying out when Magnus finally slammed in all the way to the hilt and echoed his cry of pleasure as he emptied himself deep inside Alec. 

Alec had fallen asleep with his arms wrapped around Magnus, but when he blinked awake in the weak pre-dawn light, he was all alone. Magnus was gone, the clearing with the bonfire was gone, and the bower was gone, leaving him with only his thick cloak between him and the frozen ground.

He was fully dressed, and even though his body ached in certain places and the magic inside his body seemed stronger than usual, for a moment it seemed like the night's happenings might all have been a dream - perhaps even starting from the day that he had chased the white hind and gotten lost in the Labyrinth. It was only when he sat up that Alec noticed that he was wearing Magnus' spiral pendant around his neck, with a fresh sprig of mistletoe woven through it. Alec grinned and pulled the mistletoe out.

"I need to get back before I'm missed. Tell Magnus I'll see him at the oak tonight, as usual," Alec murmured into the rough bark of one of the trees, before running off and whistling for his horse.

And even though there was no wind, all around the trees began to whisper. 

**Author's Note:**

> Plants on the bower: winter jasmine to welcome new beginnings, ivy for fidelity, wisteria for love and sensuality ;)


End file.
